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IEA Renewable heating and cooling workshop

Venue: Permanent delegation of Finland to the OECD, Paris

Dates: 7 February 2017

Organiser: IEA

Contact Email: renewablesinfo@iea.org

Background

Heat accounts for more than half of global total final energy consumption, mostly for space heating and water heating, as well as for industrial heat needs. Most heat is produced from fossil fuels and heat decarbonisation needs to be accelerated if the ambitious targets of the Paris climate change agreement are to be achieved. Currently, only 7% of heat demand is met by renewables, yet renewable heat has received relatively little attention from policy-makers, especially compared to renewable electricity. Closely linked, global cooling demand, while still low, is growing rapidly and low-carbon solutions are needed here too.

This workshop brought together key policy-makers, industry and experts to identify policy success factors, as well as challenges that need to be addressed. While renewable heat markets are very diverse and often location-specific, the workshop distilled some policy recommendations that are more widely applicable. The main focus was on renewable heat but we will also address broader low-carbon solutions for both heating and cooling.